The Battle Has Just Begun
by djbechloemitchell
Summary: Jedi can't love. That's the rule. And in Chloe's opinion, it's a pretty stupid rule. But when she falls for her master, Jedi Master Prodigy Beca Mitchell, she goes to prove that love is stronger than anything in the galaxy. And on the way, they might end an intergalactic war together.


"Chloe Beale. Step forward, please."

The young girl takes a hesitant step forward, removing the hood of her cloak to expose her fiery red hair. She feels the cold metal of her lightsaber in her sleeve, numbing her tan skin. Her chest is rising up and down and she feels extremely nervous- no, anxious. Anxious see what they have to say about her.

She walks into the middle of the circle, taking in her surroundings. 17 men and women are placed on silver chairs. They're all looking at her with an intense stare, and she feels the 4 eyes of someone in the room on her back. The man in front of her, a tall man with shining blue eyes, sandy blonde hair and sagging wrinkles smiles at her.

"Welcome, Chloe," he greets. She nods eagerly, maybe a little too eagerly.

"Hello."

"My name is Ben Skywalker."

"Nice to meet you, sir." Chloe recognizes the last name of the man in front of her immediately. He's the son of Luke Skywalker, Jedi legend, and savior of the galaxy. She bows out of respect, but Ben smiles and chuckles at her gesture.

"No, no. No need for that, Chloe. Now, as you know, we've called you here to discuss your Jedi training." Chloe swallows; time to face the music.

"You've excelled in your training, both mentally and physically. The monks in the Jedi temple have reported to us that your studies and reports are phenomenal. And, after a long discussion with the council-" Chloe sees the others nod out of the corner of her sky-blue eyes- "we have decided to assign you to a Jedi mentor to complete your training, thus deeming you a Jedi Knight." The red head smiles, crossing her arms.

She hopes to be assigned Aubrey, her childhood friend from back home on Naboo. Only a few years older than Chloe herself, they've been inseparable since childhood. Aubrey left a few years before Chloe began her training, and was expected to be a Jedi Master by now.

"Beca Mitchell," Ben says, holding out a hologram disc and showing Chloe a picture, "is to be your new Jedi master."

"She looks a little… young, sir," Chloe says, looking at the hologram. The girl has a round face and porcelain skin that looks like smooth glass. Her eyes are a dark color, but she can't quite tell which color. Her hair is a dark color, black or brown, she can't tell. The hologram isn't so good with color schemes. Her hood is framing her face and casting a shadow over her that Chloe would describe as sexy.

Sexy? What? She hasn't even met the girl!

"That's because she's nineteen, Chloe," Ben informs, snapping Chloe out of her thoughts. "She's a child prodigy. On Coruscant, she showed signs of controlling the force as a toddler. Moving toys, pushing speeders around. She built her own speeder, actually, and won the planet-wide race at the age of ten. She completed her training three years ago, and since then, has been appointed general. It's funny, really. She's the daughter of a friend of mine back on Coruscaunt. And as of right now, she's your master."

Chloe nods, because she's not sure how to respond. To be placed under the supervision on the youngest Jedi Knight master in the galaxy is a true honor. "She's currently on Christophsis, leading the rebellion against the Sepratist army, led by General Bumper Allen. You are to take the next reinforcement ship to Christophsis and meet Master Mitchell there," Ben continues, putting away the projector. Chloe raises an eyebrow.

"Master Skywalker," she begins, eyeing the copper-haired man, "I am not one to question your decision, but do you think it is wise to send a new Padawan into the middle of an all-out war?"

Ben nods, smiling at the girl. "I have full confidence in you, Chloe. You are ready. Now go, the ship is waiting," he ushers, pointing to the door.

Chloe bows at the Jedi Master, thanks the rest of the council for their time, and exits the room, taking a shaky breath in.

* * *

Jedi Master Jesse Swanson presses the circular button on the silver cylinder, and immediately, his lightsaber springs to life. The green laser blade grows to the size of his leg, and he swings it out in front if him, effectively slicing the pale yellow battle droid approaching him in half. He holds his hand out, and the remains of the sizzling, red metal fly out of his path and to the left, knocking against a grey and yellow crate. Jesse smiles.

Man, does he love the Force.

Unfortunately, the Force can't help him find the location of his best friend, Beca Mitchell. The Jedi Master prodigy seemes to have dissapeared during battle a few hours ago, muttering something about a shield generator, pulling her black hood over her head, and jumping out of the window of the building where Clone Captains Stacie and Cyntia Rose and the other Jedi (including Jesse's Padawan, Benji Applebaum) gathered to discuss battle plans.

Sensing the presence of another object, Jesse whips aroud, only to see Benji take a step back, putting his hands in the air. "Woah there, Master. Easy does it," he quips, smiling at the older man. Jesse chuckles.

"Sorry, Benji. Didn't mean to startle you." The two men have become incredibly close over the years, all starting with Benji's enthusiasm about becoming a Padawan. He seemed to drink in everything Jesse taught him, storing it into a little filing cabinet in the back of his mind for later use. And because of that, he improved greatly over the years.

"Master Mitchell still not back yet?" the young Padawan asks, taking out his lightsaber and levitating it over his hand. Jesse sighs, shaking his head.

"No. We need her to win this, and worst part is that I don't know where the hell she went off to!" he yells, pushing his hand out and causing the remains of the droid he diced up earlier to fly around. Benjj ducks his head of curly brown hair to avoid getting hit by a metal arm.

"Master, why can't you just give out orders? People listen to you."

"That's a good idea, Benji, but even though people listen to me, I don't have the authority that Beca does. I can't give out orders like she can," Jesse explains, a pensive look on his face.

That's when the ship passes over them, the air being blown from the propellers causing leaves and deris from the battle to rumble on the ground. The ship casts a shadow over the area, shleiding both boys from the light of the sun.

"C'mon, Benji."

"Why, Master?"

"The reinforcements have just arrived."

* * *

Chloe leans over the side of the ship's window, enjoying the view and the feeling of the wind in her tan face. Even though the city's been evacuated because of the war, the buildings still stand tall, shining in the powerful rays of the sun, gleaming in the light. In the distance, Chloe sees a small red hump vibrating in between skyscrapers. She shakes her head and ignores it, thinking that she's become motion sick from sticking her head out the window. As she starts pulling her head in, she sees two men standing by the landing mark.

Chloe makes her way down to the door, and as it lowers itself to the ground, she allows herself a small smile as the warm air finally reaches her skin, rather than wind whipping around in her face and messing up her hair.

The first sight she's greeted by is the grinning face of a tall man with brown hair and eyes, a green lightsaber in his hand, and his other hand stuck out to her. "My name is Jesse Swanson, second-in-command to the rebellion of this battle. This is my Padawan, Benji Applebaum. And as you may already know, you have been assigned to me as my newest Padawan."

Chloe feels herself give him a confused look and sees how her nose scrunches up in front of her. "While I'm at your service, Master Swanson, I'm afraid I've been assigned to Master Rebeca Mitchell. Speaking of her, where is she? Also, isn't there a law that prevents a Jedi Master from having more than one Padawan?" she asks, raising her eyebrow.

Jesse nods. "There was a law, but they lifted it a few years ago, due to the influx of new Jedi. And, uh, about Beca-" Chloe raises her eyebrow higher "we don't exactly know, uh, where she is... exactly. She kind of jumped out the window earlier."

"Oh. But does she know I was coming?" the ginger asks, staring expectantly at the Jedi. He coughs, fidgeting with his earpiece.

"Well, see, that's the thing-"

"GENERAL SWANSON!" The three turn around to see two women dressed in Clone suits running up to them, one being a slim, tall woman with pin-straight black hair, the other being a short, black, slightly overweight woman with pink and brown hair.

"Captains Stacie and Cynthia Rose reporting, sir!" the shorter woman says, but Chloe doesn't know who is who.

"Cynthia Rose-" Ah. "What's the update? Are they falling back?" She shakes her head.

"Oh, hey, who's the kid?" Cynthia Rose asks, nodding at Chloe.

"I'm the new Padawan, Chloe Beale. I'm supposed to be assigned to Master Mitchell." The other woman's eyes widen and she shakes her head, pink locks bouncing around.

"Man, oh man. You're in for a bumpy ride, kid. Good luck."

"Private Amy snuck in to Bumper's hide-out building and reported back that he's setting up a shield generator. Actually, it should be up by now," the other captain, Stacie, informed. Jesse sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Fan-fucking-tastic. First, we have a new Padawan coming into the middle of a war, they have a SHIELD, and Beca's nowhere to be seen!" he yells in frustration. In the distance, Chloe can hear the sound of metal clanking together on the cement, becoming increasingly louder-

It was coming closer.

"Master! Destroyers!" Benji screams, pulling out his lightsaber and pulling his arm back, poised for attack. Jesse does the same, whipping out his green lightsaber and pulling it behind his head. Chloe fumbles with hers for a second before releasing the long blue laser.

The Destroyers roll towards the group, stopping a few feet away from them. Their purple shields form around them, and their guns pop out of their sides with a click. Stacie and Cynthia Rose pull the guns out of the holsters on their hips, cocking them, and Chloe licks her lips in anticipation.

"HEADS UP!"

The group looks up to see a figure flip from the building next to them, landing behind the Destroyers. The robots turn off their shields and roll towards the hooded object. Chloe and Benji start to run towards it, but Jesse stops them.

"No. Don't."

They watch as the droids circle around the hooded figure, guns and shields armed. The figure in the middle doesn't move. Its fist is on the ground and it's on one knee, and its back is facing Chloe and the others.

"Master, what is-"

"Just watch, Benji. This is gonna be awesome."

The Destroyers start to close in on the figure, but before they can start shooting, the figure gets on its hands and spins around, and using the Force, sends the droids flying. A purple lightsaber appears in its hands, followed by bolt of lightning that runs up the purple laser blade.

The hooded figure jumps about fifty feet and over to a Destroyer that seems to be having trouble getting up, and slashes its lightsaber through its neck. The dead droid falls to the ground with a thud.

Chloe watches in amazement as this person jumps over to the other droids, slicing and stabbing her way through the wave of disoriented robots. Her purple lightsaber disappears into the side of the last one, and she pulls it out and walks over towards the group.

"Where. The hell. Have you been?" Jesse hisses through clenched teeth. Chloe can see a crooked grin form on the person's mouth under the hood, but she can't see its face.

"Things," is its reply. "'Member that shield generator that Allen got?" Jesse nods. "Look."

The person points to the horizon to where the sun is setting, and Chloe sees the red bump from earlier growing larger, approaching them slowly. The girl (Chloe can tell by the ample humps on her chest- not that she was looking) pulls a small silver tube from out of her cloak. It has a red button on it, reflecting the sun's light.

"Keep your eye on the shield." She presses the button and the red hump disappears, fizzling out into the air. Benji chuckles, stepping forward.

"Always one step ahead of us, Master," he says, grinning. Jesse's mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, one eyebrow cocked.

"What... how... how- how did you...?" he stutters, pointing at the girl and back at the horizon. The girl laughs.

"Don't doubt your superiors, Jessie," she quips, turning to Chloe. The ginger gulps.

"Who's this?" the girl asks, nodding at Chloe.

"This is your new Padawan," Jesse explains. The girl steps back.

"I, uh, don't remember putting in a request for a Padawan, Swanson," she says, turning on the boy. "I thought you did?"

Jesse shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe there was some kind of a... mix up. But, you know, now that she's here, you should start training her. Maybe we can show her around?" he offers. The girl pauses for a moment, then nods slowly.

She walks over to Chloe and the ginger realizes how small the girl is. Locks of wavy brown hair fall out of her black hood, and her lightsaber, now off, jingles in its holster in her belt.

Chloe sticks out her hand. "Chloe."

The girl pulls off her hood, revealing her slim face, and Chloe licks her lips at the sight. "Beca," she says, a crooked smile flashing across her face. "Beca Mitchell."


End file.
